To safeguard the food security of the rural communities in Madagascar affected by the locust upsurge and already weakened by a bad agricultural season in 2009/10.

Key partners:

The National Anti-Locust Centre and the Plant Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Beneficiaries reached:

Direct beneficiaries of this project were intended to be rural communities living in the areas affected by the locust upsurge. The Ministry of Agriculture,the National Anti-Locust Centre and the Plant Protection Directorate were also intended to benefit from equipment and training.

Activities implemented:

Two helicopters were used to carry out aerial survey and control operations in the locust-­infested areas which resulted in a total of about 80 000 hectares being identified as locust infected. An International Locust Expert and International Logistician were recruited to help carry out the survey operations.

The project mobilized an environmental team to assess the impact of control operations on human health and the environment. Cholinesterase kits were procured to test the blood of the operators exposed to chemical pesticides. All pesticide drums were collected to be stored or used by the National Anti-­Locust Centre.

A mission to evaluate the impact of the locust crisis on crops, pastures, agricultural production, food security and livelihoods was carried out in June 2011.

Impact:

National capacities for locust surveying, monitoring, control and management were improved.

The locust control operations contained the upsurge within the outbreak area and limited damage to crops and pastures, thus protecting food security and livelihood security of those living in the affected areas.

The local environment and human health of those living in the affected areas was protected during and after the control operations.